Page 61 of Clean Out of Luck

“How is Wade doing?” Mom asks.

Her question takes me by surprise. I don’t know why she would think to ask me that.

“I’m sure he’s fine, Mom,” I say.

“Oh, I just was wondering if you had seen him around much or if he’s been busy.” She swipes at her eyes, which are watering from laughing so hard.

“I see him occasionally. I’m pretty sure Phoenix is paying him to check on me. He might be getting a good salary out of the deal.”

I fight to keep my face neutral, but I must not do a very good job because Mom zeroes in on my expression.

“What’s going on? You just rolled your eyes about Wade.”

“Oh, nothing much. He’s just being kind of annoying, that’s all. He’s putting his nose in things that he doesn’t have any business butting in on.”Oh, and he kissed me because I asked him to. The little thing I am trying my darnedest to forget. I’m not about to mention that to my mother, though.

“Well, probably because he cares,” Mom suggests.

“He’s almost as bad as Phoenix, asking about my dates.”

“Oh? Have you gone on any dates?” Mom asks in surprise. Usually, I tell her about who I’m interested in, but I haven’t told her about my brilliant plan to find love while everyone is out of town.

“A few. Nothing promising. Wade has interrupted a couple of them already.”

“Has he, now?” Dad says, his eyebrows shooting up. “That’s very interesting.”

I don’t know what he’s thinking, but it has me suspicious. “What’s that supposed to mean, Dad?”

“I’m just saying that Wade is a nice boy.” He waggles his eyebrows.

“I’m not even going to grace that with a response, Dad.” Nor am I going to mention to my father that I have already kissed that nice boy.

My parents like Wade. I have no doubt they would be thrilled if we dated. But I’m too scared they would be disappointed if Wade got tired of me. I am not an exciting person. I like my routines. I’m happy with how my life is. I am not looking for some big, scary adventure to turn my life upside down.

I’m pretty sure Wade would get tired of me in about six weeks. And I think I may need to just have the talk with him and make him realize this needs to end here. It can just be a memory of a good kiss. Leave it at that. We don’t need anything ruining our relationships, with each other or with our families.

I talk with Mom and Dad a little more, steering the conversation away from Wade and onto the latest news in Serendipity Springs. They tell me about their plans to come back in a couple of months.

“Your grandma’s improving a lot faster than we thought, so the six months is looking like it might even be closer to three months,” Dad explains.

When they’d first left, I’d been excited at the prospect of six months to find love. But the search has been so awful, I’ve given up. I just want my parents to come home and tell me the wholesome lie that I’m too good for everyone in the dating pool.

“The physical therapist says they’ve never seen anyone so determined,” Dad laughs.

“They also said they’ve never seen anyone so mean,” Mom adds with a laugh. “I think they’re doing double the appointments just so they’ll get her out of their office faster.”

I can’t help but laugh. I can totally picture it. My dad’s mom is not a nurturer, nor is she a good patient. I am so glad I am not the one who has to take care of her while she recovers from a hip replacement. It literally requires both my parents to take care of her. Granted, she’s probably bossing them around and having them repaint her house or hand-wash the roof or something else ridiculous like that.

We say our goodbyes, and I look over at Gloria. She’s snoring softly, so I look down at the book she bought me.

I’ve never read a romantasy book before…and now I feel like I’ve been missing out. I dive back in, and somewhere around the point where the couple shares their first angry kiss, Gloria wakes up.

“Oh, dear, I’m going to miss my lunch appointment.” She leaps up, adjusting her sun hat. “Honey, you’d better go inside before you get sunburnt. You know how it is when you lay out for the first time of the season.”

My knees are starting to look a little red—she’s probably right. I stand up and gather my things, slipping my swimsuit cover back on.

“I can’t wait to hear what you think,” Gloria calls back as she hurries to the entrance. “If you like it, I have the whole series, and you can borrow it!”

I laugh and wave as she bustles inside. I follow slowly inher wake, thinking I might be making the trek up to 3G this evening for book 2. This is the perfect distraction from my own love life troubles.

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